Flanagan: The Exorcist III Shaped New Film The Exorcist: Martyrs

Mike Flanagan confirmed that 1990's The Exorcist III was one of the biggest influences on his new film The Exorcist: Martyrs, according to Screen Rant. The director made the comments in an interview tied to the premiere of the film's trailer at New York Comic Con 2026.

Flanagan said superfans of the franchise will detect a filament in the new movie that harkens back to The Exorcist III. The Exorcist: Martyrs is a standalone story in the franchise.

Scarlett Johansson plays Julia Miller, an NYPD homicide detective. The plot follows a detective haunted by a botched execution of a Satanic serial killer whose new investigation points to a continuation of his killings.

Flanagan developed the film with Universal, Blumhouse—Atomic Monster and Morgan Creek. He described the tone as more about relentless dread than being a jump scare factory.

Earlier franchise context

The Exorcist: Believer received a disappointing response, leading Flanagan to take over the franchise. The Exorcist III, released in 1990, was based on William Peter Blatty's 1983 novel and centered on Lieutenant William F. Kinderman investigating murders tied to a thought-to-be-dead serial killer and Regan MacNeil; it developed a cult following and is often hailed as the second-best in the series behind William Friedkin's original. Flanagan previously teased that Se7en and The Silence of the Lambs were big inspirations for the new reboot.